I was a fan - sort of - back in the 70s, 80s, and still like some of the older stuff
The last album I bought, was Death of a ladies Man, the album he wrote with Phil Spector. That was still an interesting piece of work, but probably not on the same level as his early albums.

I can’t say I was impressed by his later work, with the exception of a couple of songs like Take this Waltz (based on a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca) and Hallelujah. But he’s of course a legendary singer-songwriter who has influenced all singer-songwriters who came after him

Extremely shocked to wake up to this news, this morning.
It was only last night, that I watched ‘The Magnificent Seven’, and commented to my wife that Robert Vaughan was the only member of the seven still alive.

Also, last week, I bought ‘series one’ of ‘The Man From Uncle’, as well as a box-set containing Five Colour ‘Uncle’ movies, starring Vaughan and David McCallum.

R.I.P. Mr. Vaughan…you’ve left some Classics for us all to treasure…‘Bullitt’; ‘The Towering Inferno’; ‘The Bridge at Remagen’…

Andrew Sachs, the T.V. actor, best known for playing the hapless Spanish waiter, ‘Manuel’, in the classic BBC1. comedy, ‘Fawlty Towers’, has died, at the age of 86.

Sachs, who was born in Berlin in 1930 but fled Germany for London in 1938, had dozens of other acting roles, both serious and comic - including stints in TV’s two biggest soaps.

‘Fawlty Towers’, also starring John Cleese, Prunella Scales, and Connie Booth, has always been my all-time favourite comedy. The banter between Cleese and Andrew Sachs was one of the highlights; and - even though a total of only twelve episodes (over two series), were ever produced, in 1975 and 1979 - each one has never failed to make me laugh…and never will.

R.I.P. Mr. Andrew Sachs…thank you for always helping to brighten up an over-cast day…“QUE”?

If you’ve ever seen an episode of this legendary comedy series, for you Mr. Sachs will alwys be Manuel (from Barcelona). Lots of chemistry between him and Cleese, the scenes they had together are unbelievable and unforgettable. Probably the rudest and the nicest character ever spotted in a comedy series, Basil & Manuel.

Favourite Andrew Sachs moments? When Basil ran that soup spoon down Manuel’s face and then hit him on the head with the spoon, I thought I was going to die from laughing. Or when Basil said, “Let me explain, Manuel,” and then poked him in the eye. That was another one. Or there’s “Manuel! There is too much butter on those trays,”, or the moose head, or “Orally Men” or… Oh, there are simply too many. Every scene featuring Manuel was a comedy masterclass.

There’s an episode called Communication Problems, and in that episode there’s a scene in which Basil, infuriated at guest Mrs. Richards’ refusal to switch on her hearing aid, picks up a piece of lint from the floor and screams at her, “Is this a piece of your brain??” It’s not a scene which features Manuel in any way but it’s a rare, rare bit of Fawlty Towers business written by neither John Cleese or Connie Booth; I think, in context, it’s my favourite line in the entire show, and it was written by Andrew Sachs.

There’s an episode called Communication Problems, and in that episode there’s a scene in which Basil, infuriated at guest Mrs. Richards’ refusal to switch on her hearing aid, picks up a piece of lint from the floor and screams at her, “Is this a piece of your brain??” It’s not a scene which features Manuel in any way but it’s a rare, rare bit of Fawlty Towers business written by neither John Cleese or Connie Booth; I think, in context, it’s my favourite line in the entire show, and it was written by Andrew Sachs.

Last,caress…just like you, I love this line about the brain; and had no idea that it was written by Andrew Sachs!

I love this line about the brain; and had no idea that it was written by Andrew Sachs!

Hm. I fear I’ve committed something of a faux-pas here. Since I posted that piece of trivia I became increasingly uncertain as to its accuracy, until eventually - ten minutes or so ago - I decided to go hunting online for some verification, only to find that I had indeed remembered it wrong: Andrew didn’t write it, John or Connie did. BUT, John thought it was a poor line and cut it from the script; it was Andrew who convinced John to put it back in, insisting it wa a fantastic line. And it is. So, he didn’t come up with it but he was still responsible for its inclusion.

Many thanks for the update, last.caress…the main thing is that the ‘brain’ line was included…thank goodness.

I don’t think that a day ever goes by, without at least one ‘Fawlty Towers’ line being used in our home…and the one about the brain, is probably the most oft-used - usually when I find food on the kitchen floor, and then enquire of my wife if it belongs to her!
It was a brilliant episode that the line was originally included in: ‘Communication Problems’, the one where the guest, Mrs Richards, refuses to turn her hearing aid on…hilarious.

The accomplished and much-respected actor, Peter Vaughan, has died at the age of 93.

Perhaps his most famous role was that of Harry ‘Grouty’ Grout, in the classic 1970s British sitcom, ‘Porridge’; although he also appeared in the BBC comedy, ‘Citiizen Smith’, starring Robert Lindsay.

He starred in many of the 1960’s/1970’s ITC programmes such as ‘The Avengers’; ‘Man in a Suitcase’; ‘Randall & Hopkirk (deceased)’; ‘The Saint’; and - until recently - in the popular ‘Game of Thrones’.

Among his many film credits were Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’; classic thriller, ‘Straw Dogs’; ‘Zulu Dawn’; and ‘The Remains of the Day’.

Italian actor and stuntman Osiride Pevarello died in Rome, Italy on December 15th he was 96. Pevarello was one of 19 children who were all part of a circus family. He was an acrobat and later was a member of the Italian army for 20 years before making his screen debut in 1949’s “Il mulino del Po” by Alberto Lattuada. He would go on to have a 40 year career as a character actor and stuntman. Osiride may have appeared in more Euro-westerns than any other actor. I have him listed in 61 westerns myself. Once you became familiar with his face you would see him all the time playing saloon patrons, brawlers, gang members and henchmen. He was the brother of actor, stuntman Renzo Pevarello [1924-2014]. He was married and 13 children of which only 4 lived to adulthood.

Oh, almost missed that post. I actually assumed Peverarello had died years ago. You might be right about Pevarelllo being in more eurowesterns than anyone else. You can spot him in loads of films, usually in saloon fights or sometimes only in background as an extra. He was also a regular actor in Tinto Brass films, his last role was in 2002 in Black Angel.